The CBN Extends Validity For Old Naira Notes Indefinitely 

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in October 2022, the CBN redesigned the ₦200, ₦500, and ₦1,000 denominations.

This was stated in a statement released on Tuesday in Abuja by Isa AbdulMumin, Director of CBN’s Corporate Communications Department.

Additionally, the apex bank established deadlines for the old denomination designs to lose their legal tender status.

Old naira notes to be used till February 15 as FG vows to obey Supreme Court order.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says the old Naira banknotes will henceforth remain legal “ad infinitum.”

But in March, the Supreme Court decided to keep the previous ₦200, ₦500, and ₦1,000 in effect until December 31.

At his inauguration on May 29, President Bola Tinubu pledged to review the naira redesign policy.

Abdulmumin states that, “without prejudice,” the CBN would like to notify the public of its intention to extend the previous design’s ₦200, ₦500, and ₦1,000 denominations’ legal status deadline indefinitely.

“This is to prevent a recurrence of previous experiences and is in accordance with international best practices.

“Therefore, even after the Dec. 31 deadline, all banknotes issued by the CBN in compliance with Section 20(5) of the CBN Act will remain legal tender,” he declared.

The director gave the assurance that the CBN was collaborating with the appropriate authorities to overturn some current court rulings on the matter.

He declared that all CBN branches nationwide would keep issuing and accepting all Nigerian banknotes, both old and redesigned, to and from Deposit Money Banks.

He ordered everyone to accept all banknotes for daily transactions, regardless of whether they were updated or not.

In order to preserve and protect the banknotes’ life cycle, he also urged Nigerians to handle them with extreme caution.

“Also, the general public is encouraged to embrace alternative modes of payment, e-channels, for their day-to-day transactions,” he said.